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Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation, he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003. He was elected governor with the Reform Party and is the party's only candidate to win a major government office. Ventura was a member of the United States Navy Underwater Demolition Team during the Vietnam War. After leaving the military, he embarked on a professional wrestling career as a heel from 1975 to 1986, taking the ring name "Jesse 'the Body' Ventura." He had a lengthy tenure in the WWF/WWE as a performer and color commentator and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004. In addition to wrestling, Ventura pursued an acting career, appearing in films such as Predator and The Running Man. Ventura entered politics in 1991 when he was elected mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, a position he held until 1995. He was the Reform Party candidate in the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election, running a low-budget campaign centered on grassroots events and unusual advertising that urged citizens not to "vote for politics as usual". In a major upset, Ventura defeated both the Democratic and Republican nominees. Amid internal fights for control over the party, Ventura left the Reform Party a year after taking office and served the remainder of his term as a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota. Since holding public office, Ventura has referred to himself a "statesman" instead of a politician. As governor, Ventura oversaw reforms of Minnesota's property tax as well as the state's first sales tax rebate. Other initiatives he took included construction of the METRO Blue Line light rail in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area and income tax cuts. Ventura did not run for reelection. After leaving office in 2003, he became a visiting fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has since hosted a number of political television shows on RT America and Ora TV, and written several books. Ventura has been a prominent figure in third-party politics, having repeatedly floated the idea of running for President of the United States as an independent candidate. In late April 2020, Ventura endorsed the Green Party in the 2020 presidential election and showed interest in running for its nomination. He officially joined the Green Party of Minnesota on May 2. On May 7, he confirmed he would not run. The Alaskan division of the Green Party nominated Ventura without his involvement, causing the national party to disown it for abandoning its nominee, Howie Hawkins. Early life Ventura was born James George Janos on July 15, 1951, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of George William Janos and his wife, Bernice Martha (née Lenz). Both his parents were World War II veterans. His mother was a nurse and father worked for the Minneapolis Street Department. Ventura has an older brother who served in the Vietnam War. Ventura has described himself as Slovak since his father's parents were from Slovakia; his mother was of German descent. Ventura was raised as a Lutheran. Born in South Minneapolis "by the Lake Street bridge", he attended Cooper Elementary School, Sanford Junior High School, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1969. Roosevelt High School inducted Ventura into its first hall of fame in September 2014. Ventura served in the United States Navy from December 1, 1969, to September 10, 1975, during the Vietnam War, but did not see combat. He graduated in BUD/S class 58 in December 1970 and was part of Underwater Demolition Team 12. Ventura has frequently referred to his military career in public statements and debates. He was criticized by hunters and conservationists for saying in a 2001 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Until you have hunted men, you haven't hunted yet." Post-Navy Near the end of his Navy service, Ventura began to spend time with the "South Bay" chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club in San Diego. He would ride onto Naval Base Coronado on his Harley-Davidson wearing his Mongol "colors". According to Ventura, he was a "full-patch" member of the club and third-in-command of his chapter, but never had any problems with the authorities. His biker nickname was "Superman". In the fall of 1974, Ventura left the bike club to return to the Twin Cities. Shortly after that, the Mongols entered into open warfare with their biker rivals, the Hells Angels. In November 2018, Ventura testified as an expert witness on behalf of the Mongols in a federal racketeering trial in Santa Ana, California, defending the club against the government's allegations characterizing the Mongols as a criminal enterprise. He testified that he remained an inactive member of the Mongols and called his time as an active member of the club's San Diego chapter "a stepping stone I needed to make the transition from military life back to civilian life. I owe them for being there for me when the rest of the world wasn't". Ventura attended North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, during the mid-1970s on the G.I. Bill. At the same time, he began weightlifting and wrestling and became a member of the Japan Karate Association. He was a bodyguard for The Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead for a time before entering professional wrestling and adopting the wrestling name Jesse Ventura. Professional wrestling career Early career Ventura created the stage name Jesse "The Body" Ventura to go with the persona of a bully-ish beach bodybuilder, picking the name "Ventura" from a map as part of his "bleach blond from California" gimmick. As a wrestler, Ventura performed as a heel, a decision he attributes to his ability to be more creative as a villain. He resurrected Gorgeous George's old motto of "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!", which he emblazoned on his t-shirts. Much of this flamboyant persona was adapted from "Superstar" Billy Graham, a charismatic and popular performer during the 1970s. Years later, as a broadcaster, Ventura made a running joke out of claiming that Graham stole all his ring attire ideas from him. In 1975, Ventura made his debut in the Central States territory, before moving to the Pacific Northwest, where he wrestled for promoter Don Owen as Jesse "The Great" Ventura. During his stay in Portland, Oregon, he had notable feuds with Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka and won the Pacific Northwest Wrestling title twice (once from each wrestler) and the tag team title five times (twice each with Bull Ramos and "Playboy" Buddy Rose, and once with Jerry Oates). He later moved to his hometown promotion, the American Wrestling Association in Minnesota and began teaming with Adrian Adonis as the "East-West Connection" in 1979. In his RF Video shoot in 2012, he revealed that shortly after he arrived in the AWA he was given the nickname "the Body" by Verne Gagne. The.... Discover the Jesse Sternberg popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jesse Sternberg books.